2018 research report from the · 2019. 2. 11. · 2018 research report from the saskatchewan oat...

2018 Research Report

from the

Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission

Project Title: Oat Vigour Improves with Larger Seed Size

(ADOPT# 20170417)

Principal Investigators:

Mike Hall1 and Chris Holzapfel2

1East Central Research Foundation, Yorkton, SK. 2Indian Head Research Foundation, Indian Head, SK.

Project Identification

1. Project Number: 20170417

2. Producer Group Sponsoring the Project: Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission

3. Project Location(s): Yorkton and Indian Head, Saskatchewan.

4. Project start and end dates (month & year): April 2018 to February 2019

5. Project contact person & contact details:

Mike Hall, Research Coordinator

East Central Research Foundation/Parkland College

Box 1939, Yorkton, SK, S3N 3X3

Phone: 306-621-6032

Email: [email protected]

Objectives and Rationale

6. Project Objectives:

The objective of this project was to demonstrate how seedling vigour of oats can be improved

by screening out smaller less vigorous seed. Increasing the average seed size of a seed lot should

result in greater emergence, improved stand establishment, greater competitiveness against wild

oats, earlier maturity and greater yield.

7. Project Rationale:

Planting vigorous seed is the first step towards producing a high yielding, milling quality oat

crop. Vigorous seed provides better stands, particularly under stressful conditions such as cold

soils, deeper than optimal seed placement, and heavy weed competition (ie: wild oats). Oats

grown from vigorous seed are more competitive against wild oats. This is particularly important

when wild oat populations are high as there are no herbicides available to control wild oats in

tame oats. A simple means by which producers can improve the vigor of their own seed lots is to

have it cleaned more aggressively to assure small less vigorous seeds are removed. This has

potential to increase economic returns for oat growers.

Methodology and Results

8. Methodology:

Field trials using CS Camden oats were direct seeded near Yorkton and Indian Head to establish

the treatments listed in table A. Treatments were replicated 4 times and only the middle rows of

each plot were harvested to minimize the influence of edge effects. Different parts of the

treatment list were analyzed as two separate factorial experiments. The first factorial analysis

used treatments 1-9 and evaluated 3 seed sizes of large (42 mg/seed), small (26 mg/seed) and

mailto:[email protected]

unscreened (41 mg/seed) at 3 seeding rates of 100, 200 and 300 seeds/m2. The 3 seed sizes were

sieved from the same seed lot. At Yorkton, the second factorial analysis used treatments 2, 5, 9,

10, 11 and 12 to evaluate the 3 seed sizes at shallow and deep seeding. At Indian Head, only

treatments 2, 5, 9 and 10 were used to evaluate 2 seed sizes (large and small) at shallow and deep

seeding. Data from the unscreened seed was omitted as there was a seeding error for treatment

12. Both unscreened treatments 11 and 12 were omitted to balance the trial for a factorial

analysis. All treatment comparisons for the second factorial analysis were seeded at 200

seeds/m2. The dates of various operations can be found in table B.

Table A. Treatment list for oat vigour improves with larger seed size.

Trt. Seed Size Seeding rate

(Seeds/m2)

Seeding depth (inches)

1 Large 100 Shallow (1”)



4 Small 100 Shallow (1”)



7 Unscreened 100 Shallow (1”)



10 Large 200 Deep (2-3”)

11 Small 200 Deep (2-3”)

12 Unscreened 200 Deep (2-3”)

Table B. Dates of operations in 2018 for the Oat Vigour Improves with Larger Seed Size

Operations in 2018 Indian Head Yorkton

Seeded May 7 May 10

Tame Oat Emergence (4 by 0.5 m) May 28 May 28

In-crop Herbicide June 6 (Buctril M) June 8 (Prestige)

Tame Oat Biomass June 5 June 7

Fungicide at Flag June 25 (Quilt) June 25 (Caramba)

Wild Oat Rating July 18 July 20

Harvest August 10 August 30

9. Results:

Growing Season Weather

Mean monthly temperatures and precipitation amounts for Yorkton and Indian Head are listed

in Table C. Mean temperatures were above the long term average and rainfall was well below.

However, yields were still respectable at Indian Head and exceptional at Yorkton.

Tables 1-12 showing results from both factorial analyses for Yorkton and Indian Head are found

in the appendices.

Target seeding rates of 100, 200 and 300 seeds/m2 resulted in average plant populations of 109,

182 and 243 plants/m2, respectively at Yorkton (Table 2) and 122, 214 and 316 plants/m2,

respectively at Indian Head (Table 5). At Yorkton and Indian Head, emergence of oats from

small seed was the poorest and produced less early season biomass (Tables 2, 5 and Figures 1

and 2).

Table C. Mean monthly temperatures and precipitation amounts along with long-term (1981-

2010) normals for the 2018 growing seasons at Indian Head and Yorkton in Saskatchewan.

Location Year May June July August

Avg. /

Total

------------------------------Mean Temperature (°C) ---------------

Indian Head 2018 13.9 16.5 15.4 17.6 15.8

Long-term 10.8 15.8 18.2 17.4 15.6

Yorkton 2018 13.9 17.6 18.3 18.1 17.0

Long-term 10.4 15.5 17.9 17.1 15.2

--------------------------------- Precipitation (mm) ------------------

Indian Head 2018 23.7 90 30.4 3.9 148

Long-term 49 77.4 63.8 51.2 241.4

Yorkton 2018 0.8 120.1 53.8 21.1 196.1

Long-term 51 80 78 62 272

1Seed sizes are large (42 mg/seed), small (26 mg/seed) and unscreened (41 mg/seed)


185 b215 a

162a207 a

187 b

231 a

0

50

100

150

200

250

Yorkton Indian Head

Em

ergen

ce (

pla

nts

/m2

)Figure 1. Effect of Seed Size on Oat

Emergence (plants/m2), averaged over

seeding rate1

Large

Small

Unscreened

154 a

243 b

130 a

174 a184 b

255 b

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Yorkton Indian Head

Oa

t B

iom

ass

(K

g/h

a)

Figure 2. Effects of Seed Size on Oat

Biomass (Kg/ha), averaged over seeding

rate1

Large

Small

Unscreened

Compared to large seed, emergence for Oats from small seed was 13% poorer at Yorkton and

4% poorer at Indian Head. Likewise, early season biomass for oats from small seed was 16%

lower at Yorkton and 29% lower at Indian Head. Differences in emergence could, to a certain

extent, potentially reflect improper calibration or random variability in sampling error.

However, the reduction in above grown biomass is greater than the reduction in emergence

suggesting the smaller seed oats were less vigorous. This was visually obvious at Yorkton as

figure 3 shows the difference in early vegetative growth between small and large size oat seed

when planted deep. Seeding deeper tended to further reduce emergence and early season biomass

at both locations (Tables 8 and 11). Emergence and early season biomass did not differ between

large and unscreened oats, indicating the removal of smaller seed was insufficient to greatly

improve the quality of the seed lot. This was likely due to the fact that the seed lot was of very

high quality to begin with, as evident in the very similar TKW values for the large and

unscreened seed.

For the most part, early season oat biomass increased significantly as seeding rate was increased

at both Yorkton and Indian Head (Tables 2 and 5). This is intuitive as more plants emerging

should mean more biomass when measurements are taken early in the season. However, there

was an unexpected interaction with the biomass data at Yorkton which the author can not

explain. As expected, the biomass increased as seeding rate increased for oats from large seed

and unscreened seed (Table 3). However, the opposite was true for oats grown from small seed.

As seeding rates were increased from 200 to 300 seeds/m2, oat biomass dropped from 169 to 118

kg/ha.

Figure 3. Small versus large seed oats seeded deep (3”) at Yorkton

June 12

Small Seed Oats Large Seed Oats

Although oats from large seed emerged more vigorously at both locations, this only resulted in

significantly higher yields at the Yorkton site (Tables 2 and 5 Figure 4). At Yorkton, oats from

large seed significantly yielded 8% more than oats from small seed size, but only 2.6% more

than unscreened oats which was not statistically significant. At Indian Head, small seed size oats

did yield the least, but differences between the seed sizes were small and insignificant.


While increasing seeding rates did not significantly affect yield, the highest yields were

numerically associated with the lowest seeding rate at both Yorkton and Indian Head (tables 2

and 5, Figure 5). The seeding rate of 100 seeds/m2 is far below the recommended rate of 300

seeds/m2. Perhaps lower plant populations benefitted from less inter-plant competition for water

as conditions were dry, especially in Indian Head. Increasing seeding rates had little affect on

yield in this study but should still be recommended as it improved competition with wild oats

and hastened maturity. While wild oat pressures were low at both locations, increasing seeding

rate from 100 to 300 seeds/m2 did significantly reduce wild oat pressure from a visual rating of

1.5 to 0.5 out of 10 at Indian Head. No differences were detected at Yorkton as wild oat

populations were quite low (data not shown). Maturity ratings were lost at Yorkton, but

increasing seeding rate from 100 to 300 seeds/m2 significantly hastened maturity by 4 days at

6701 b

4434 a

6189 a

4367 a

6530 ab

4550 a

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Yorkton Indian Head

Yie

ld (

kg

/ha

)

Figure 4. Effect of Seed Size on Oat Yield (kg/ha),

averaged over seeding rate1

Large

Small

Unscreened

Indian Head. Maturity was also significantly affected by seed size (Table 5) and seeding depth

(Table 11). Seeding deep and seeding oats with a small seed size statistically delayed maturity,

but the differences were within a day and not agronomically important. Test weights were not a

required measure for this study but this data was collected from the Yorkton site. While not

statistically significant, tests weights were numerically higher for oats grown from large seed

and statistically higher for oats grown at the lowest seeding rate (Table 2 figure 6). The observed

test weights were well above the minimum of 240 g/0.5 l required for milling oats.

6632 a

4591 a

6359 a

4416 a

6429 a

4344 a

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Yorkton Indian Head

Yie

ld (

kg/h

a)

Figure 5. Effect of Seeding Rate (seeds/m2) on Yield

(kg/ha), averaged over seed size

100

200

300

10. Conclusions and Recommendations

The small seed size oats were found to be less vigorous and oats grown from this seed produced

lower yield at Yorkton. However, removing these seeds from the original seed lot did little to

improve overall seed vigor or increase crop yield as they only constituted 8% of the original

unscreened seed lot. The quality of the small seed in this seed lot was still good and tested 98%

vigor. However, this may not always be the case and it still may be a good practice for

producers to remove thin seed from seed lots they intend to plant. Increasing seeding rates from

100 to 300 seeds/m2 did not improve yield at either location in this study. However, the high

seeding rate should still be recommended as it hastened maturity by 4 days and reduced wild

oat pressure at Indian Head.

Supporting Information

11. Acknowledgements:

This project was supported through the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission and

funded by the Agricultural Demonstration of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) initiative

under the Canada-Saskatchewan Growing Forward 2 bi-lateral agreement. Adopt signs were

posted and the project was highlighted during the annual tours at both locations.

12. Appendices

259.3 b

253.1 a

254.1 a

250

251

252

253

254

255

256

257

258

259

260

100 200 300

Tes

t W

eigh

t (g

/0.5

l)

Seeding Rate (seeds/m2)

Figure 6. Effects of Seeding Rate on Oat Test Weight

(g/0.5 l) in Yorkton, averaged over seed size

Table 1. Seed size and seeding rate effects on oat emergence, biomass, maturity, test weight and

yield at Yorkton in 20181.

Main effect Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Effect --------------------------------------p-values Z ----------------------------------

Seed size (S) 0.037 0.0031 Na Ns 0.039

Seeding Rate

(R) <0.0001 0.0001 Na 0.0018 Ns

S x R Ns 0.0042 Na Ns Ns

Z p-values ≤ 0.05 indicate that a treatment effect was significant and not due to random variability 1Treatments 1-9 used in factorial analysis (3 seed sizes by 3 seeding rates). Seeding depth for all

treatments was shallow.

1Treatments 1-9 used in factorial analysis (3 seed sizes by 3 seeding rates). Seeding depth for all


Table 2. Main effect means of seed size and seeding rate on oat emergence, biomass, maturity,

test weight and yield at Yorkton in 20181.


(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Seed Size

Large

(42 mg/seed) 185 b 154 a Na 256.1 a 6701b

Small

(26 mg/seed) 162 a 130 a Na 255.4 a 6189 a

Unscreened

(41 mg/seed) 187 b 184 b Na 255.1 a 6530 ab

LSD 21 29 3.42 397

Seeding Rate

100 seeds/m2 109 a 112 a Na 259.3 b 6632 a

200 seeds/m2 182 b 171 b Na 253.1 a 6359 a

300 seeds/m2 243 c 184 b Na 254.1 a 6429 a

LSD 21 29 3.42 397



Table 3. Means for seed size by seeding rate interactions on oat emergence, biomass, maturity,

test weight and yield at Yorkton in 20181.

Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat

Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test

Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

S x R

Large Seed size – 100

seeds/m2 112 130 Na 259.0 7008


seeds/m2 178 141 Na 254.9 6441


seeds/m2 264 191 Na 254.4 6655

Small Seed size – 100

seeds/m2 107 102 Na 259.1 6131


seeds/m2 163 169 Na 253.1 6304


seeds/m2 217 118 Na 254.1 6131

Unscreened Seed –

100 seeds/m2 108 104 Na 260.0 6758

Unscreened Seed –

200 seeds/m2 205 204 Na 251.5 6332

Unscreened Seed –

300 seeds/m2 249 243 Na 253.8 6501

L.S.D. 36 50 5.9 688

Z p-values ≤ 0.05 indicate that a treatment effect was significant and not due to random variability 1Treatments 1-9 used in factorial analysis (3 seed sizes by 3 seeding rates). Seeding depth for all




Table 4. Seed size and seeding rate effects on oat emergence, biomass, maturity, test weight

and yield at Indian Head in 20181.

Main

effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Effect -----------------------------------------p-values Z ---------------------------------------

Seed size

(S) 0.056 <0.0001 0.0005 Na Ns

Seeding

Rate (R) <0.0001 <0.0001 <0.0001 Na Ns

S x R Ns Ns Ns Na Ns

Table 5. Main effect means of seed size and seeding rate on oat emergence, biomass, maturity,

test weight and yield at Indian Head in 20181.


(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Seed Size

Large

(42 mg/seed) 215.0 a 243.3 b 87.2 a Na 4434 a

Small

(26 mg/seed) 207.1 a 174.2 a 87.7 b Na 4367 a

Unscreened

(41 mg/seed) 231.0 a 254.8 b 87.0 a Na 4550 a

LSD Ns 32.5 0.32 Ns

Seeding Rate

100 seeds/m2 122.2 a 155.5 a 89.6 c Na 4591 a

200 seeds/m2 214.1 b 232.8 b 87.0 b Na 4416 a

300 seeds/m2 316.9 c 284.0 c 85.4 a Na 4344 a

LSD 19.8 32.5 0.32 Ns



Table 6. Means for Seed Size by Seeding rate interactions on oat emergence, biomass,

maturity, test weight and yield at Indian Head in 20181.

Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat

Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test

Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

S x R


seeds/m2 116 164 89.8 Na 4695


seeds/m2 215 244 86.6 Na 4314


seeds/m2 315 322 85.1 Na 4292


seeds/m2 124 118 89.8 Na 4464


seeds/m2 193 181 87.5 Na 4402


seeds/m2 305 224 85.9 Na 4236

Unscreened Seed – 100

seeds/m2 127 185 89.3 Na 4615


seeds/m2 235 274 86.8 Na 4532


seeds/m2 331 306 85.1 Na 4505

L.S.D. 34 56 0.56 Ns

Z p-values ≤ 0.05 indicate that a treatment effect was significant and not due to random variability 1Treatments 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 used in factorial analysis (3 seed sizes by 2 seeding depths).

Seeding rate for all treatments is (200 seeds/m2).

1Treatments 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 used in factorial analysis (3 seed sizes by 2 seeding depths).


Table 7. Seed size and seeding depth effects on oat emergence, biomass, maturity, test weight

and yield at Yorkton in 20181.

Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Effect ----------------------------------------p-values Z --------------------------------------

Seed size (S) 0.0095 0.076 Na 0.0096 0.15

Seeding Depth

(D) Ns Ns Na 0.12 0.14

S x D Ns 0.068 Na Ns Ns

Table 8. Main effect means of seed size and seeding depth on oat emergence, biomass,

maturity, test weight and yield at Yorkton in 20181.

Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Seed Size

Large

(42 mg/seed) 179 ab 162 a Na 256.6 b 6785

Small

(26 mg/seed) 163 a 136 a Na 255.5 b 6444

Unscreened

(41 mg/seed) 197 b 187 a Na 250.8 a 6302

LSD 21 Ns 3.7 Ns

Seeding Depth

Shallow (1”) 182 a 170 a Na 253.1 a 6359

Deep (3”) 177 a 154 a Na 255.5 a 6661

LSD Ns Ns Ns Ns

1Treatments 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 used in factorial analysis (3 seed sizes by 2 seeding depths).


Table 9. Means for Seed Size by Seeding Depth interactions on oat emergence, biomass,

maturity, test weight and yield at Yorkton in 20181.

Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test

Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

S x D

Large Seed size –

Shallow 178 141 Na 254.9 6441

Large Seed size – Deep 180 183 Na 258.4 7128

Small Seed size –

Shallow 179 164 Na 253.1 6304

Small Seed size – Deep 163 109 Na 257.9 6584

Unscreened Seed –

Shallow 204 204 Na 251.5 6332

Unscreened Seed –

Deep 190 169 Na 250.1 6272

L.S.D. 30 Ns 5.2 NS

Z p-values ≤ 0.05 indicate that a treatment effect was significant and not due to random variability 1Treatments 2, 5, 10, 11 used in factorial analysis (2 seed sizes by 2 seeding depths). Seeding

rate for all treatments is (200 seeds/m2).

1Treatments 2, 5, 10, 11 used in factorial analysis (2 seed sizes by 2 seeding depths). Seeding


Table 10. Seed size and seeding depth effects on oat emergence, biomass, maturity, test

weight and yield at Indian Head in 20181.


(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Effect ----------------------------------------p-values Z -------------------------------------

Seed size (S) 0.037 0.055 0.0072 Na Ns

Seeding Depth

(D) 0.10 0.007 0.001 Na Ns

S x D Ns 0.059 Ns Na Ns

Table 11. Main effect means of seed size and seeding depth on oat emergence, biomass,


Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

Seed Size

Large 207 a 204 a 87.2 a Na 4308

Small 180 b 172 a 87.9 b Na 4346

LSD 26 34 0.52 Ns

Seeding

Depth

Shallow (1”) 204 a 212 b 87.1 a Na 4358

Deep (3”) 183 a 163 a 88.1 b Na 4296

LSD 26 34 0.52 Ns

1Treatments 2, 5, 10, 11 used in factorial analysis (2 seed sizes by 2 seeding depths). Seeding


Abstract

13. Abstract/Summary:

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the benefit of screening out the small seed from

an oat seed lot. Small seed tends to be less vigorous and its removal before planting can

increase crop competition and yield. A seed lot of CS Camden was screened to remove the

small seed constituting 8% of the original mass. This created 3 seed lots of large (42 mg/seed),

small (26 mg/seed) and unscreened (41 mg/seed) seed sizes. These 3 different seed size lots

were planted shallow at 100, 200 and 300 seed/m2 near Yorkton and Indian Head. In addition,

each lot was also seeded deep at 200 seed/m2. While the vigor of the seed lots all tested over

98%, oats grown from small seed was found to be less vigorous than oats from large seed under

field conditions. Plants grown from small seed had reduced emergence and less early-season

above ground biomass at both locations. Oats grown from the large seed yielded 8% higher

than with the small seed at Yorkton but seed size did not significantly affect yields at Indian

Head. In the field, large seed size oats did not statistically outperform the unscreened seed by

any measure at either location. While oats from small seed was less vigorous, there was little

evidence that their removal was enough to significantly improve the vigor over the original

seed lot as they constituted 8% of the original mass. Increasing seeding rates from 100 to 300

seeds/m2 did not improve yield at either location in this study. However, the high seeding rate

should still be recommended as results may differ under more optimal conditions and it

hastened maturity by 4 days and reduced wild oat pressure at Indian Head.

Table 12. Means for Seed Size by Seeding Depth interactions on oat emergence, biomass,


Main effect

Emergence

(plants/m2)

Oat Biomass

(Kg/ha dry)

Maturity

(days)

Test

Weight

(g/0.5 l)

Yield

(kg/ha)

S x D

Large Seed size – Shallow 215 244 86.6 Na 4314

Large Seed size – Deep 199 163 87.8 Na 4302

Small Seed size – Shallow 193 181 87.5 Na 4402

Small Seed size – Deep 167 163 88.4 Na 4290

L.S.D. NS 48 0.74 Ns

2018 research report from the · 2019. 2. 11. · 2018 research report from the saskatchewan oat...

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